Once Upon a Time in Faerûn

Session Eight

After hearing about Cragmaw Castle and King Grol, Durik decides to make a deal with Klarg. He offers the bugbear the chance to kill King Grol and take over the Cragmaw Clan with the party’s help. In exchange for this, Klarg will help them defeat Grol and rescue Gundren Rockseeker. Klarg agrees, seeing the obvious benefits and having realized that they party will keep its word.

After searching for Gundren’s bodyguard and finding him wounded and bound, they party sets off for Phandalin to entrust his care to Halia Thornton.

Then they travel deep into Neverwinter Wood, and find the castle. Droop, who Durik had sent to tail Klarg, arrived and told them that the bugbear was keeping to the plan.

Around noon, the party entered the castle through a secret backdoor that Klarg had told them about. They waited until they heard the sound of fighting (the signal that they had arranged with Klarg), then made their way swiftly to the king’s chamber.

Bursting in, Valleria found the room completely dark and was unable to find their quarry!

Coming in just behind her, Durik could see slightly better with his dwarven eyes. It was a trap!

A drow quickly shot a crossbow bolt at him, but his magic protected him. Durik used his spells to immolate the curtains covering the windows, thus lighting the room.

After a fast, deadly fight, King Grol, his dire-wolf pet, the traitorous Klarg, and the hobgoblin bodyguards all lay dead. The drow, it turned out, was a doppelganger, and had read Klargs mind when he returned to the castle. The doppelganger pulled a wounded Gundren out from behind Grol’s throne, and threatened to kill him unless the party surrendered to the hobgoblin reinforcements coming from other parts of the castle.

Attempting to kill the creature before it could harm Gundren, Durik hurled lightning at it. As the bolt struck the shape-shifter, it snapped Gundren’s neck, killing him!

After dealing with the rest of the goblinoids in the castle, the party looted what they could, fought an owlbear, and then left to return to Phandalin with Gundren’s body, in the hopes of having him resurrected as they had Alton.

Session Seven

After having Alton resurrected and burying Dain, the group agrees to make Valleria a full member. They awaken the next day to find Skithiryx gone, although they all agree not to worry about him, as he does these kinds of things… Alton returns to the Lionshield Coster to collect the armor he had commissioned from Linene Graywind just before his being attacked by the Redbrands.

Durik questions Droop the goblin, finding out that the goblins they encountered on the Triboar Trail were part of the Cragmaw Clan. He divulges the location of their hideout near the road, and begs the dwarven sorcerer to be his protector. Durik agrees to take Droop as his servant/pet. The goblin also reveals that the the Cragmaws took a dwarf prisoner some time ago, and the group agrees that it might be Gundren Rockseeker.

Leaving Phandalin, they travel west along the Triboar Trail back towards the place that they encountered the Goblins. Along the way, Thorin notices that they are being followed, but cannot discern who it is that shadows them through the woods. Rather than inform the group subtly, he leaves them in danger and keeps the information to himself.

As they neat the goblin trail, they round a bend in the path to find it blocked by fallen trees! From behind them, savage war-cries echo as a pack of orcs charges out of the trees!

Thrown spears hit the group, and then the orcs are upon them! Thorin shapeshifts into a bear, and attacks the lead orcs. Meanwhile, Valleria engages the three that held back to throw more spears. After a short but vicious fight, Alton finishes off the final orc, and the party takes a breather.

After the battle, Valleria cuts off the orcs’ heads and plants them on their own spears along the trail to warn travelers and other orcs alike. Then, she uses one of their axes on the fallen trees while Thorin burns them with summoned fire. The trail is soon cleared, and the party sets off after hiding the orcs armor for gathering on the return to Phandalin.

When they reach the goblin’s hideout, Durik asks Droop if they have guards. The fearful goblin confirms that guards watch the cave entrance from a blind nearby. While the rest of the group debates the best plan of attack, Thorin shapechanges into a snow-leopard and sneaks up on the goblins, finding them asleep. He quickly begins dispatching them, but one strugles as he kills it, awakening the last. It flees, calling for help.

Upon hearing the calls of the fleeing goblin, the rest of the party charges the cave entrance. Snow-leopard-Thorin chases after the goblin, following him into the caves and finding him releasing three chained wolves. Thorin kills the goblin, but is attacked by the starving wolves. The party gets there in time to aid him, but he is still wounded. Feeling his infernal ancestry influencing his decisions, the tiefling feels a blood-frenzy coming on. Now in bear-form, he charges up the tunnel with a stream in it, seeking out more prey that he has scented.

Worried for their friend’s safety and sanity, the party follows as quickly as they can. As the incline of the tunnel increases, Durik casts a spell of light upon one of Alton’s swords and Valleria’s shield. Bear-Thorin roars in anticipation of more violence, but the echoing sound quickly changes into the roar of a crashing wave!

Water surges downward towards the party as a massive wave appears, washing over them. Valleria manages to find a handhold in the cave-wall, and holds onto Alton’s backpack as he is nearly drowned by the surging tide. The bear-tiefling claws his way upward through the wave, and finally makes it to an open cave. Meanwhile, the sturdy Durik watches from a safe outcrop of stone while Droop is washed away down the tunnel…

Once the water recedes, the party catches up with Thorin at the end of the tunnel. In a cave with a now-empty pool for holding water, goblins and hobgoblins attack in ranks behind shields. The fight ends quickly, thanks to Durik’s spells, and the party finds an entrance to another cave just off the first.

There they see numerous crates and barrels stamped with a blue lion. They have found the goods that Linene Graywind told Alton had gone missing along the Triboar Trail. However, before the party begins searching them, bear-Thorin smells the scent of both dire-wolf and bugbear! Its a trap!

Finally seeing the dire-wolf, Thorin charges it! Three bugbears step out from hiding places as the party follows their bear. Thorin’s bear-form charge smashes one of the bugbears down a stone shaft the leads to the wolf pen, and it disappears with a yelp.

After Thorin is beaten to a bloody pulp by the dire-wolf and the bugbear chieftain, Valleria stands over his unconscious and bleeding body while fending off his two attackers. Alton and Durik kill the other bugbear, and then Durik uses his lightning to fry the dire-wolf (singeing Valleria in the process). Badly wounded, the bugbear chieftain gets disarmed and tripped by Alton.

Meanwhile, Droop climbed up out of the same shaft that the bugbear had fallen down earlier, and administers a healing potion to Thorin.

The bugbear, identifying himself as Klarg, begs for his life in exchange for information. Valleria puts the point of Talon to his throat, and asks just what kind of information he has to offer. At that moment, a mixed squad of goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears crashes through the cave entrance and prepares to attack!

The party warns Klarg to order his minions to back down, and when he shouts at them to stop, they halt momentarily. Using their uncertainty to target them while they are clumped together, the now awake Thorin blasts them with a thunderwave! They are hurled back into a wall by the force, and most die upon impact. Alton finishes off the one bugbear that was still twitching.

Valleria demands certain information from Klarg in exchange for his life: the location of Gundren Rockseeker, the location of the hidden fortress Klarg had hinted about, any possible “backdoor entrance”, information about King Grol, and the location of Klarg’s own treasure. The bugbear reveals that he and his minions did capture Gundren Rockseeker and his bodyguard. The bodyguard is still in the caves, but Gundren was sent to Cragmaw Castle at the command of King Groll. Klarg shows them on their map the location of this castle in Neverwinter Wood, and gives the other information as well.

Session Six

After finding out about the fight between their two companions and the Redbrands, the rest of the party conclude that they will use the secret entrance to Tresendar Manor that little Carp has told them about. They hope that they will be able to rescue Dain and Alton, while at the same time stealing Glasstaff’s correspondence for Halia Thornton.

Halia tells them that there are two other adventurers in town who would be willing to accompany them into the manor. The group tentatively agrees to meet them before venturing into the woods. When they meet at Guillen Alderleaf‘s farm the next day, they are met by a young Illuskan woman bearing axe and shield. She introduces herself as Valleria Thorsdottir of Icewind Dale, and explains that the other person that Halia spoke of is an elvish archer who is scouting the path to Tresendar Manor’s secret entrance.

The party makes their way through the woods until they find the dead tree that Carp had spoken of. The tree grew right up against the cliff the manor topped, but did not reach all the way up. For a moment, there did not seem to be a way up. Then two Redbrand thugs were noticed keeping watch in its branches. Suddenly, the elf materialized out of the trees beside the party and shot one of the guards with his bow!

As the second guard drew in breath to call an alarm, the shieldmaiden hurled a javelin at him. The missile struck, knocking him out of the tree where he landed on his back. Thorin quickly shape-shifted into a snow leopard and dashed in to finish him off. Once done, the group found that the tree had a entrance near its roots large enough for people to enter, and that the tree itself was hollow. A ladder led to a tunnel in the cliff face, which they followed until they saw light.

Entering a large cavern divided by a crevice, the group held back while Skithiryx used his unholy magics to invisibly scout out the complex. After discerning that most of the Redbrands were gambling in one room, the dragonborn opened a final door to find a magical workshop. Disturbed by the door opening, a rat scurried away and into another room. Returning to his companions, Skithiryx reported on the layout. Just as he finished, a secret door opened and a wizard holding a staff made of glass poked his head out to look at them. On his shoulder was the rat from the workshop!

Immediately, the wizard called for help and broke into a run!

Skithiryx chased after the wizard, who they all surmised could only be Glasstaff, while the rest dealt with three bugbears that burst out of a door and a strange, one-eyed creature that climbed out of the crevice.

Whilst the dragonborn warlock chased the fleeing wizard, the one-eyed creature met Valleria’s gaze. Immediately, she relived the fear and dread of her father that she thought she had buried away. While the elf, Sanjaleth, and the rest of the party turned spell, arrow, and claw against their enemies, the shieldmaiden was paralyzed by remembered fear.

Skithiryx continued chasing Glasstaff as the wizard hurdled through secret doors and ancient crypts. After blasting him with spells relentlessly, the dragonborn finally caught up with him after narrowly avoiding a pit-trap that Glasstaff had tired to lured him into. With a final burst of spell-power, Skithiryx laid his quarry low. It was only then that the dragonborn heard the rattle and creak of three skeletons crawling out of the crypt he had just run through.

Making his own way over the pit that had nearly swallowed him, Skithirx picked up Glasstaff’s namesake from the ground and waited for the three skeletal Tresendar’s to cross. As they did, he spat a stream of acid at them. One fell into the yawning pit, but two made it across and attacked!

It was a close call, but with his new staff’s potent defensive magic, the dragonborn was able to destroy the other two skeletons.

Back in the main cavern, Thorin, Durik, and Sanjaleth were fighting the bugbears and the eye-creature. Sanjaleth’s arrows, Durik’s spells, and Thorin’s shape-shifted claws finally brought down their enemies. Once the cycloptic monster was killed, Valleria came out of her paralysis and joined the other three as they burst in on the gambling Redbrands who had been reveling so loudly that they heard neither Glasstaff’s cry for help nor the fight in the cavern. Making quick work of the surprised bandits, the party met up with Skithiryx after looting the room.

In Glasstaff’s workshop they found a letter addressed to him. Reading it, Skithiryx learned that Glasstaff’s name was Iarno Albrek, and that he was working for an anonymous person who used a black spider as his signature. The two of them seemed to be looking for maps of dwarven origin.

Exploring the complex further, they discover the eye-creature’s den in the crevice. There, Valleria finds a sword inside a black leather scabbard. The party also finds the cells where the Redbrand’s keep their prisoners. There, they find the bodies of their two companions, Dain and Alton. The two adventurers are dead.

Saddened by this revelation, the party vows to see them returned to life if possible. While searching the cells further, they also find the wife and children of Thel Dendar, the woodcarver who was murdered by the Redbrands after standing up to them. Mirna Dendar is most grateful for their freedom and tells them about a jeweled necklace that her family had to leave behind in Thundertree years ago. She tells them that it is all she can offer in reward. Durik also discovers an imprisoned goblin that the bugbears had been beating. After questioning it, they learn its name is Droop, and that it is a pitiful being that cannot look after itself. Durik chooses to look after it. Kinda like a pet.

Bringing the Dendars and the bodies of Alton and Dain with them, the group heads back to Phandalin. After returning the woodcarver’s family to their home, the party gives them some money to tide them over for a while. Next, they return to Halia Thornton and Skithiryx renegotiates the deal for the correspondence to include the Tresendar Manor as part of their payment. The party agrees that if she is willing, they will hire Mirna Dendar as the caretaker for the manor and its grounds. While passing through the village, several of the villagers see the new sword carried by Valleria and all agree that it is Talon, the sword of Sir Aldith Tresendar, the Black Hawk.

Finally, the group takes the bodies of their fallen friends to Sister Garaele at the Shrine of Tymora and asks her to help them resurrect their friends. Making the appropriate prayers and offerings, the elf priestess successfully restores Alton’s spirit to his body. However, when communing with Dain’s spirit, she learns that he is content the rest in the halls of his fathers. He earned his place in the feast of Mordain, and while he will miss his friends and comrades, he is unwilling to undergo resurrection.

The party buries Dain in the Phandalin Cemetery, and while Alton sings a halfling dirge and Lucky howls.

Session Five

After fighting the goblins, the party continues on their way to Phandalin. Traveling along the Triboar Trail, they finally find the village near the foothills of the Sword Mountains.

Stopping at Barthen’s Provisions, they speak to Elmar Barthen and collect their pay for delivering the cart of goods. Barthen then informs them that Gundren Rockseeker is missing and his brothers, Nundro and Tharden, are looking for him.

Worried, the group decides to split up. Skitheryx, Thorin, and Durik begin searching for information on Gundren and his brothers. Meanwhile, Dain and Alton head out to buy better armor. Little did they know that this would be the last time the companions would all see each-other alive!!!

After speaking to Sister Garaele, a priestess of Tymora, about Harper related things, Dain and Alton bartered with Linene Graywind at the the Lionshield Coaster over better armor. They settled on decent prices and traded in their old armor as part of the deal.

As they left the Coaster, a quartet of armed thugs wearing red capes approached them and demanded their money in return for safety in Phandalin. Dain and Alton would both rather be dammed to Caina than let street thungs extort money from them, and so they met the red-shirts in open combat in the street!

The battle was quick and bloody, with axe-swings and shortsword-thrusts moving at amazing speed! The Redbrands surrounded Alton and Dain, burying their blades in the two travelers. Again and again the bandits drove at the two friends, exchanging fast, bloody strikes. While they took two of their assailants down in the ensuing fight, both Alton and Dain died in the streets of Phandalin. The Redbrands gathered them up and dragged their bodies back to their hideout.
#NEVERSPLITTHEPARTY

The other three members of the party spoke with Quillen Alderleaf and her son Carp, and learned that a gang of ruffians calling themselves the Redbrands had killed Thel Dendar, the local wood carver, after he stood up to the Redbrands when they came by his shop and leered at his wife. Afterward, the Redbrands came back to kidnap his wife, Mirna, and their two children.

When asked if everyone had been bothered by the ruffians, Qelline mentioned that Halia Thornton at the Miner’s Exchange had not been bothered after an initial encounter with them. Little Carp also wanted to share that he knew the Redbrands were using Tesendar Manor as their base, and that it had a secret entrance that he had seen them use.

Armed with much new information, the three adventurers then went to visit Halia Thornton and find out how she had dealt with the Redbrands. However, Halia was less than forthcoming with information. All she would say concerning the Redbrands was that she wanted the letters and correspondence of Glasstaff, their leader, and would pay well for it.

While speaking with Halia, the group was interrupted by Carp running up to tell them that a dwarf and a halfling had been attacked by the Redbrands and dragged away. Now the party had personal business with the Redbrands and their leader!

Session Four

While they party searched the mansion for anything of value, Skithiryx decided to use his innate dragonborn breath-weapon in a rather unique way. After finding a hidden safe that they could not open (no key could be found), the dragonborn warlock used his acid-breath to melt the safe door. While it melted whatever documents were inside the safe, a single ring survived the acidic spray.

It was also Skithiryx who discovered the mansion’s deceased owner’s corpse still bent over his work table. There the dragonborn found several golden objects, a book on transmutation, and what could be a philosopher’s stone!

After finding Elgoriath’s body in the hidden rooms beneath his mansion’s cellar, the party decides to search the sea-cave that Jim Jimson told them the smugglers had been using. There, they discovered three crates of brandy the smugglers had been trying to avoid paying tariffs on. After some discussion, Durik and Alton each decided to drag a crate back to Saltleaf. There, Durik gave his to Salazar Astoria to distribute at no charge to the people of Saltleaf, while Alton left his in the village square and declared a free-for-all.

Both celebrations quickly became riotous.

At that time, Skithiryx decided he would sacrifice a goat to Talos at the shrine to Umberlee by the coast. Durik and Alton engaged in revelry at their respective celebrations. Thorin gathered druidic components, then hiked back to the corrupted grove he had found with the intent of purifying it. Dain, who had been drinking brandy steadily since finding it in the sea-cave, continued drinking until he became belligerent.

After forcing an old woman to sell him her only goat for a single gold coin, Skithiryx took it to the shrine of Umberlee. He reasoned that Umberlee (goddess of Sea and Storms, and vassal of the Greater God of Storms) would not take umbrage with his offering at her alter. After making his sacrifice, the village’s cleric of Umberlee, Amity Darkwater, approached Skithiryx and spoke with him concerning theological matters.

After inviting him back to her abode, Darkwater asked the dragonborn to support her bid to become leader of the village. Her plan would involve Skithiryx and his companions framing her opposition, Lord Lasiter, with colluding with the smugglers from the mansion. The dragonborn assured her he would consider her request, then left to ponder the signs and portents of these events.

Some time that evening, a messenger brought word to Alton, Dain, Durik, and Skithiryx that one of Saltleaf’s village council, Lord Lasiter, would like them to visit his manor to speak as soon as possible.

When they all meet in the foyer of the manor, they are asked to wait. Dain, now quite belligerent, reasons in his drunken state that the nobleman is playing with them. Not thinking clearly at all, he decides to show Lasiter what happens when you try to power-play with a dwarf. Seeing a priceless-looking urn being used as a umbrella stand in the corner of the foyer, Dain proceeds to empty his brandy-filled bladder into it whilst the other three party members look on in shock.

At just the wrong moment, the lord’s housekeeper enters, and sees the belligerent drunk’s effrontery. With a shriek, the servant calls for “Hedrick”, and quickly a large, older human appears. The housekeeper tells him that: “A pig has made a mess in Lord Lasiter’s foyer! Please return him to the pigsty where he belongs!” With a deep frown, Hedrick responded: “Yes, ’Marm.”

While Durik and Alton attempted (unsuccessfully) to convince the housekeeper to reconsider, the large human grabbing the drunken dwarf by his ear and dragged him out the back door of the manor. After unceremoniously tossing Dain into the pigpen, he returned inside.

Meanwhile, Thorin had made his way back to the grove in the Saltwood with his druidic focus materials. There he fashioned a totem in the shape of a stag, and began meditating. Sensing the location of the corrupting force affecting the grove, the tiefling followed it to a cave where he found a hellhound!

At first, it seemed as though the demonic creature would be his end, but Thorin thought quickly and ensnared it with vines before it could get close. Attacking with all the fury of nature he could summon, the druid seemed to have the upper hand. That is, until the hellhound opened its jaws and spewed forth a jet of hellish flames!

Even as he seemed to die, Thorin refused to surrender the grove to the fiend’s influence. As his vision blurred, he found himself once again meditating in the grove. His struggle with the hellhound had been a spiritual one, and his strength of will had triumphed! The totem now resembled a hellhound, and the grove was free of corruption.

Back in Saltleaf, Skithiryx, Durik, and Alton met with Lord Lasiter, while Dain tried to regain his feet out in the stinking sludge of the pigsty. Lasiter thanked the three adventurers for their efforts, and outlined a plan to ambush the remaining smugglers when they returned in three days. The nobleman also offered his patronage if they would make it seem like other members of the village council were complicit in the smuggling operation, thus making his own bid for lordship over Saltleaf more likely to succeed. The three of them agreed tentatively to consider his offer, and left.

Meanwhile, Dain began walking back to the Tattered Sail, only to find it so packed that he could not get in. After being shoved away from the enterence more than once, he sat down outside and waited. It was not long before Alton Tealeaf arived back at the inn, and helped Dain down to the beach where the dwarf sobered up while bathing off the pig-stink in the frigid ocean waters. Once the dwarf was clean, the two headed back to their inn, and joined in the near-riotous celebration.

The next day, all five party memebers met to discuss what to do concerning the offers they had received. In the end, they (mostly) agreed to finish delivering the supplies they were hired to bring to Fandalen for Gundren Rockseeker. After Alton generously donated 100 gp to the church of Imalter and Father Dawnheart, they set out on the High Road once more.

While gathering food for the party, Alton gets attacked by goblins in the underbrush. Hearing a cry of “Goblins!”, Dain sprints towards his friend, while Thorin transforms into a snow leopard and lopes towards the fight. Skithiryx gallops towards the fight on his horse.

Dain gets there just in time to jump in front of two arrows meant for Alton, shielding him. Alton kills three of the goblins, but one flees. Skithiryx sees the fleeing goblin, and casts Dissonant Whispers on it. The goblins stops running, starts screaming and clawing at its head, and then falls down dead…

However, during his pursuit of the goblin, the dragonborn warlock failed to notice the noose trap in his path. The rope noose slips around his horse’s leg, and lifts it into the air. Skithiryx falls off and lands prone on the ground looking up at his horse as it gets dragged up into the air. Then the rope snaps, and the horse falls toward him. He rolls out of the way, and the horse breaks its leg… How much did the counter-weight weigh?, muses Dain.

Session Three

The same night that Alton Tealeaf initially investigated the mansion alone, Thorin Brawnanvil (the tiefling druid raised by a dwarven druidess) also makes the trek up towards Engoliath’s dwelling. During his climb Thorin’s druidic senses tingle, alerting him to a fell influence in Saltleaf Wood. Drawn into the woods, he finds a old druidic grove that has been desecrated. After spending the whole night meditating in the grove, Thorin wakens the next morning with the knowledge of how to cleans it!

Heading back towards the mansion, the tiefling walks in the backdoor begins exploring. When he walks down the stairs to the cellar, Thorin is assaulted by the terrifying scream of the magic mouth. He responds by blasting it with a wave of thunderous power!

Unfortunately, it does nothing to the mouth, and breaks the stairs…

As Skithiryx, Alton, and Dain rush back towards the barracks where they last saw Durik, they hear a reverberating “krakoom!” from ahead!

Thorin finds Durik first, and helps him stabilize. The other three adventurers find the two of them in the barracks, and the party is reunited!

Agreeing that they must take their prisoners back to Saltleaf, they climb out of the cellar only to be attack by more goblins!!! After Alton slices them to ribbons, the heroes trek back to town and receive healing from Joriah Dawnheart. They also turn in Sanbalet and the other prisoner in to Saltleaf’s sheriff, Walthus Kain. Questioning Sanbalet proves useless, as he is a madman who accuses the heroes of breaking into his home and murdering his friends and pets.

However, the other prisoner is questioned by Skithiryx, and proves far more cooperative. Jim, as he identifies himself, reveals that a group of smugglers lead by Sanbalet were using Engoliath’s mansion as a cleverly disguised base. Sanbalet had used his magic to make the house seem haunted; allowing them to operate without risk of detection.

After Jim spills all the beans, the party rests for the night. The next morning, they head back up to the mansion and begin clearing the upper levels room-by-room. They discover more hoaxes set up by the crazy wizard, and some great loot in secret hidey-holes throughout the ruin.

Session Two

The same night that the group from Neverwinter arrives in Saltleaf, the halfling adventurer, Alton Tealeaf, overhears the retired poacher, Jaq, telling the tale of his encounter up at the abandoned mansion. The former home of Elgoriath the Mad; the mansion has been uninhabited for some years, ever since its owner’s death or disappearance.

Intrigued by the rumors of the mansion being haunted, Alton decides to hike up the switchbacks to the clifftop on which it sits. Leaving his pet mastiff, Lucky, in his room, the halfling makes his way to the mansion only slightly inebriated from his night drinking at the Tattered Sail. Once he arrives, he climbs over the demolished wall and finds himself in the gazing at the looming manse. As he lights a torch to better explore the grounds, Alton is struck from behind!

Rolling to his feet, he sees a large canine that seems to be drooling fire! Reacting quickly, the halfling draws his swords and strikes deeply into the hellish beast’s flesh. It is then that it opens its mouth wide, and unleashes a flaming breath from its lungs! Unable to throw himself completely out of the way, Alton is engulfed in the flames and loses consciousness!

Back at the Tattered Sail, the two dwarves, Durik and Dain, sleep for a few hours before Durik is awoken by howling coming from the room adjacent to theirs. After finding a dog unattended and letting it out of the inn, the sleep-deprived dwarf begins to understand that the dog, a mastiff, wants him to follow it. After finally waking Dain up from a deep slumber (by upending a pitcher of ale over his head), the two dwarves set out after the dog to see why it is so intent on having someone follow it.

The mastiff leads them up the switchbacks to the mansion, where they find a seared halfling lying in a scorched area of the lawn. Taking him back to the village, the wake the priest of Ilmater, and ask him to aid the halfling. The priest, Joriah, revives Alton, and the halflling thanks all three for their efforts.

The next day, Father Joirah and several of the village elders ask Alton, Durik, Dain, and Skithiryx to investigate the mansion and clear it of any monsters or ghosts that may be lurking within. Agreeing to aid the village, the four climb up the hill and after some discussion, decide to enter through the back door. Skithiryx believes that the story told to him by Jaq the night before indicates that the cellar near the back door is the source of the ghostly rumors.

After Dain kicks in the back door, the four adventurers search the mansions kitchen for a few moments. Upon opening an old cupboard, Skithiryx is suddenly attacked by giant centipedes that had been nesting inside! The centipedes bite the dragonborn, quickly paralyzing him with their venom, but are quickly dispatched by the other three. Realizing that they can do little but wait for the venom to wear off, they move the dragonborn and wait for him to overcome his paralysis.

It is only due to luck that Dain notices four goblins sneaking up on them from the second story stairs in the kitchen. Roaring a call to arms, the dwarf warrior fells one of the goblins with his greataxe. The goblins break and run as their ambush falls apart, and the three mobile adventurers rush after them. Dain slays the goblin leader at the top of the stairs before being incapacitated by numerous wounds. Together, Durik and Alton finish off the last goblins, and drag Dain back to Skithiryx in the kitchen. After an anxious hour of waiting, both the dwarf and dragonborn recover enough to continue.

After Skithiryx overcomes his paralyzation, the heroes check on the goblin corpses upstairs and find a scimitar with a ruby on the pommel in the leaders hand. Dain stowed it in his pack, with the intent of having someone delve it magically later. At Skithiryx’s insistence, they all head downstairs to the door in the kitchen that lead to a pantry. Inside, another set of stairs leads into darkness. Lighting some torches, they descend until a terror inducing cry comes from bellow. After being briefly stymied by the horrific call, the party continues down the stairs once the two magic users (Durik and Skithiryx) figure out that the cry came from a permanent magic mouth spell on the stairwell.

In the cellar, they find numerous broken bottles and other trash, as well as a body at the center of the room. With sword, shield, and armor on, they are only able to tell that it is dead. One noteworthy detail about the body is that its shield bore a device of a purple heart surrounded by flames. As Durik inspects the body, Dain walks around the perimeter of the room inspecting the walls.

In a sudden move, Alton decapitates the body while Durik was turning it over. Bile and guts flow out of the armor, pooling on the ground. As Durik pulls his hands away, he sees that white worms have attached themselves to his arms, and are burrowing into his flesh! His arms quickly numbing, Durik uses a dagger to cut them out of his flesh!

Meanwhile, Dain has found a lever in the wall, and pulls it. The lever activates a hidden door in the cellar wall, through which the dwarf sees a room full of beds and a human sitting at a table at the center. Seeing Dain and Alton in the cellar, the human dashes though another door and flees down a winding stair. Alton runs after the human, prompting Dain and Skithiryx to follow, as they suspect the man of being behind the mansion’s “haunting”. Durik begins to follow, but quickly realizes that one of the rot grubs escaped his efforts to remove them, and is burrowing towards his heart!

With only moments to live, and his allies to far down the stairs to call back, Durik uses his innate sorcery to shock himself with electricity. The gambit works, killing the grub. However, it also stops Duriks heart!

Meanwhile, the three who followed the human find themselves outnumbered! Entering a cave moments behind their quarry, they stumble upon a hostile group consisting of the human they followed, two more men, two gnolls, and a wizard who cackles with laughter upon seeing them. The while Dain attack the gnolls, Skithiryx uses his unholy magic to attack the wizard’s very sanity! However, the cackling mage shakes off the attempt, saying: “Ah, one more voice to join the chorus!”

With a gleeful squeal, the wizard creates a spectral copy of Skithiryx that attacks the dragonborn, and then disappears with a wave of his hand. While the dragonborn struggles with his new attacker, Alton joins the fray. Wielding two shortswords, the halfling warrior disembowels one gnoll, then a human who was flanking Dain! Turning towards, the dragonborn, Alton sees the mad wizard behind him. With two quick strikes, Alton knocks the wizard unconsious, and the final human standing begs to be allowed to surrender.

As Skithiryx’ illusery attacker vanishes, all three heroes realize that Durik is not with them! As quickly as possible, they tie up the two living humans and rush to Durik’s aid. The day is theirs, thanks in a large part to Alton’s skill with the blade!

Before leaving Neverwinter, the two dwarves play Three-Dragon Ante at a local dive, and win some extra coin to pad their coin purses.

The next day, the group travels South along the High Road, which runs along the Sword Coast, following rumors that Rockseeker has traveled to Phandalin to meet with his brothers. They also know that he has been known to stop in the village of Saltleaf, which is on the way to Fandelen, and is only a days journey out of Neverwinter.

As evening approaches, a storm sweeps in from the ocean and batters the party of travelers as they make their way down the High Road. The tiefling druid (and adopted “cousin” of Dain), Thorin, leads the rest of the travelers to a decent site and organizes the setup of their camp. Finally able to escape the cold and wet, the group rests while Kismet, Dain, and Durik take turns keeping watch.

Just before dawn, Durik notices movement out in the storm. A flash of lightning reveals a pack of ghouls crawling across the drenched ground some distance from the campsite. Waking his companions, Durik tells them of the danger. The group agrees that the ghouls must be dealt with, for their own safety and that of others. When Thorin casts a spell upon his scimitar, the ghouls are alerted to the presence of the travelers, and dash towards them through the howling storm.

Dain, Durik, and Thorin form a first line against the ghouls, while Skithiryx and Kismet engage the withered undead from the edges of the battle. Lightning splits the night as the shrieking wind contests with the cries of the living and the howls of their unnatural opponents. Dain is paralyzed by the ghoul’s touch, and for a moment it looks as though the end is nigh. However, the swords and spells of the party finally finish off the ghouls, and Thorin heals Dain.

When dawn finally comes, the group finishes their journey to Saltleaf, and begins exploring the village. Skithiryx and Thorin pursue information on Rockseeker and the local legends, Kismet seduces people at the Salty Griffon Inn, and Dain and Durik decide to one again fill their coin purses by playing Three-Dragon Ante at a local alehouse known as the Tattered Sails. There, the two dwarves meet the proprietor, Salazar Astoria, and Dain “drops a g” to buy ale for everyone in the place. At the card table, they meet two humans, a halfling by the last name of Content Not Found: maybell, and another dwarf, named Barundar Bronzeshield.

After playing very well, Dain walks away from the table hours later with 14 pg, and discreetly splits his winnings with Durik. However, the other dwarf, Barundar, approaches the two of them at the bar, backed by a small group of disgruntled barflies. “You took all my money in that game! We think you should repay us!”, says the intoxicated dwarf, to a chorus of yeah’s from behind him. Dain isn’t about to let a sore looser rob him of hard earned winnings, but before he responds, Durik and Salazar calm the crowd with offers of a free round and warnings against fighting in Salazar’s establishment.